Fixing It
by 2manyfandoms
Summary: "Look up." She said shortly, "What I've got to say you'll hear looking me in the eyes." Astrid knows there's something wrong with Hiccup and she's going to get it out of him. Even if she has to talk about her own feelings. T just in case, Hiccup/Astrid
1. Chapter 1

**Fixing it**

**A/N: This is sort of based on my previous one-shot Always, but I don't think it's necessary to read it beforehand, I went out of my way to pretty much repeat what I'd said in it, or at least give the general idea of it regarding Astrid's feelings for Hiccup.**

**Part 1: Frontal Attack**

She hadn't seen him in a while.

She hadn't had a chance to really be around him either.

It seemed like every time she wanted to say something or be near him five other villagers wanted the same thing. And they wouldn't take no for an answer.

It was sort of like when he'd suddenly become 'good' at dragon training except ten times worse because this time he'd saved them all. He wasn't just popular because he was suddenly acting 'normal'. This time they wanted to be around him for what he was. Now they were constantly asking for advice, or sharing something about the dragons, or for one of his crazy creations. And while she thought it was good that they were seeking Hiccup for... well for being _Hiccup_ she still was incredibly frustrated about not really having spent much time with him or Toothless.

So she had decided to go looking for him, she should be able to find him easily enough. Only one problem with that…

He wasn't anywhere in the village.

That only left... oh about ¾ of the whole island.

However there was one spot that could most probably be hiding her wayward... well whatever he was. She was nearly there now, moving over the familiar ground as she ducked under fallen trees and moved around boulders, and starting to get nervous. Since that day a week ago when he'd finally woken up she hadn't really gotten a chance to... well, _talk_ to him.

It wasn't something she particularly wanted to do, but she really felt like she needed to talk to him, to make him understand. The looks he'd been giving her lately were starting to really annoy and worry her.

The cove was as pretty as ever, the sun was starting to fall towards the west and giving the whole pace its last moments of full sunlight left before the trees surrounding it would start cast the reddish green light that filtered through the tree tops into the cove. The little pond sparkled with reflected sunlight and grass looked perfect for laying down on and enjoying the day.

And there at the bottom, laying on the side of a mass of sleeping black scales was Hiccup. And suddenly Astrid felt an odd sensation in her stomach, one that she was quickly starting to realize only appeared when Hiccup was involved. _Why do you affect me so?_ She asked him silently as she looked down at him. He was half sitting half laying on Toothless, his head resting on his dragon's side, eyes closed, and with his hands behind his head.

She made her way over to him, and it wasn't until she was half way there that he suddenly sat up and looked around, looking weary. He spotted her and again that odd look in his face… almost… reluctant and it was really starting to bother her.

He didn't move from besides Toothless as she continued to walk towards him. He simply looked down at his legs, or she supposed his leg. It was funny how she couldn't quite seem to remember that he was now… well he did only have one leg though he was not peg-legged like most others in the village. _Even when he was the same he had to be different_, she mused.

Finally reaching him she slid down to sit beside him. He didn't say anything, or even look up, just continued to stare down, except now she could see that he wasn't looking down, his eyes were closed. The silence stretched on as she struggled to figure out how to start.

"Hi" she said, finally.

"Hey"

"I haven't seen you a lot lately" she tried.

"I've been busy" he said shrugging. He opened his eyes but rather than look at her he was staring off into the distance.

"There have been a lot of changes, haven't there?"

"Yeah" This was starting to get frustrating. How was she supposed to get him to talk if he wasn't getting the hint?

"You're very popular lately," she tried again. "Always someone wanting to talk to you, ask you things…" he nodded, exhaling softly. "We haven't hung out in a while."

At that he turned to her sharply, looking at her with a confused sort of look. "Yeah, we haven't."

_Alright_, she thought, _that's it. I'm not going to dance around this, time to grab the Nightmare by the horns. _

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Like what?" He asked suddenly bewildered.

"The way you have been, like…that." She gestured to him unable to put his expression into normal words.

A semi-annoyed expression crossed his face. "You just gestured to me."

"Well I can't help it if it's a Hiccup thing." She told him.

He blinked.

"A Hiccup thing?"

"Yes, a Hiccup thing, like creating things to do what you can't do, or forgetting to do your chores because you were looking for trolls, or befriending dragons and creating tails for them to fly, or doing crazy flying stunts, or defeating huge monstrous dragons."

He looked disbelieving. "Those are all Hiccup things?"

"Have you seen any other Viking do that?" he shrugged; just shrugged, like it wasn't anything at all.

"Ow!" he cried, clutching his arm.

"That was for being an idiot." She told him, angrily.

"Well, at least now you're acting like Astrid." He muttered to himself. Unfortunately, he forgot he was sitting right besides her.

"What was that?" She asked her voice angry. If she was honest with herself she wasn't angry so much as confused, unfortunately her instant reaction to confusion was getting angry.

"Nothing, nothing, nothing," He said waving his arms as if in surrender. Quickly, she lunged at him. Throwing herself at him pinning him to the ground by sitting on him.

"Now what were you saying?" He looked up at her, somewhat scared but then tried to get away from under her by pushing her. She, however, was not the best fighter for nothing. It was easy enough to keep him pinned under her. Suddenly an odd huff from behind them made them stop and look back.

Toothless had woken up, and was now laying with his head between his great paws smiling toothlessly and huffing… no, laughing at them and looking at them with a look she couldn't quite interpret but made her feel like blushing.

"Oh, shut it, you over grown lizard." Hiccup said, from underneath her blushing, as if he could understand exactly what the dragon was thinking. _Well, I wouldn't be surprised if he could, it would fight right in with all the other Hiccup things. _

Another silence descended on them, neither knowing how to express what was on their minds. Astrid tried to come up with a way of bringing him out, but the ball in her stomach wasn't helping her.

Toothless on the other hand knew exactly what they needed.

Getting up, he walked towards them and crouched down so that his saddle was right in front of them. Astrid stared, _just how smart _is_ he?_

"What now?" Hiccup asked, confused. Toothless nodded, gesturing with his shoulders for them to get on. "Uh… Buddy I do-"

"Well come on." Astrid cut in before he could say anything else. Somehow this would help, she was sure of it. Hiccup stared at her, denial all over his face. "Come on, what are you? Chicken?" she said semi-teasingly. Hiccup turned instantly and walked towards Toothless. Astrid felt the ball in her stomach tighten. Something was _wrong._ And she had to figure out how to fix it. Only problem was, she wasn't the fixer in this… whatever it was they had, Hiccup was the thinker, the one who figured things out. He was the one who made things, and did things to them to make them better and better. She… she was a Viking, a fighter. Astrid sighed softly. She'd just have to think of this as a fight. One she had to win, no matter what.

Astrid frowned slightly as she noticed Hiccup get on the saddle. It was, she realized, the first time she'd seen him get on Toothless since he lost his leg. It was more clumsy, and awkward. Not horribly so, but… enough to be noticeable.

As his metal leg made a click she jumped on behind him. Hiccup scooted forwards a bit, this saddle was just a bit smaller than the original, since Gobber had made it to replace the badly charred old one. Astrid tried to balance herself, putting her hands on Hiccups shoulders to steady herself. She was, therefore, very surprised when Toothless took off at suddenly quickly followed by a burst of speed to execute a daring corkscrew maneuver as he gained height.

Astrid screamed, much as she had last time she'd ridden Toothless, and Hiccup yelped. Toothless did a back flip.

Astrid cursed everyone of Toothless' ancestor.

"Woooah! Boy, what's wrong? It's just-" Hiccup was cut off as Toothless suddenly leveled out and soared contentedly letting the air keep him afloat and relaxing.

Heart hammering, legs wrapped around Hiccup with one arm nearly chocking him and the other at his waist, her head buried into his back Astrid took a deep steadying breath and unwrapped her legs from around him. "Odin help me, Hiccup if your dragon does that to me one more time I'll _**skin**_ him." Astrid hissed as she lifted her head.

Toothless glanced back and snorted, much the same way Hiccup did. She glared at him.

What followed was a ride much like their previous one. Toothless soared without any real direction, simply enjoying the wind rushing by him. Astrid relaxed her arms a bit, not letting go of Hiccup but not clutching at him desperately either. Slowly, she unhooked her right arm from around his neck and slid it down to wrap around his stomach. _He was so tense… whatever was worrying him would not be easy to get out of him. But how…? Sneak attack? Distract him with one thing and then strike when he's not paying attention? He had to be more relaxed for that to work, tense as he was he would not talk. _Taking a deep breath of fresh cold air Astrid braced herself then relaxed.

"You really scared me." She stated, as she scooted a little closer to Hiccup so she wouldn't have to yell. "I saw you laying on that bed, not moving for days and… it forced me to realize some things." She continued.

"As-"

"Shush!" It really scared me to think I'd never see you wake up. That you'd never get up and go draw things in your book, or go to the forge with some new idea for a crazy invention, or hear you say something sarcastic." She continued.

"Wha-" Hiccup tried to interrupt again.

"Shut it! Thinking about that made me confront some things I'd been hiding for a while. Things I'd been… unwilling to face."

"Wow, Astrid whe-"

"Odin help me Hiccup, if you interrupt one more time I'll throw you off of Toothless." Astrid said squeezing his waist so he knew she meant business.

"Ok, shutting up." He said, somewhat breathless.

"Look I'm not good at this talking thing so let me get it out." She said, her voice sharp. Hiccup gulped and nodded, afraid to say another word. Ok, she was a Viking. Sometimes the best way to distract an enemy was to make them look at something else. Fool him into thinking there was only one head on attack. She could do this!_But, Thor, is it hard to talk about this. Come on, Astrid you have to do this, and do this right!_

"Ok, Hiccup, the fact is that I came to a realization when you were in bed after that battle." He tensed again. "I realized it was ok to like you." He let out a breath, but somehow she knew it wasn't a relieved breath, it felt… resigned. _That wasn't supposed to happen._ But plans were nothing more than rough outlines, ideals of how you wanted a battle to go. Every good Viking new plans were null and void when you actually met the opposition. Oh well, improvisation was always a part of good battle tactics. "I realized all those things that had stopped me from getting to know you before didn't matter. That what, for years, I'd thought were signs of weakness really were the opposite."

Hiccup seemed to slump more and more with each word. "I understood what I'd felt all those years and… "

"Years?" Hiccup said, sitting up straight all of a sudden. His voice acquired a tone that let Astrid know she was on the right track. _Frontal attack: breaking through initial defenses._

"Yes, Hiccup, years. I've… liked you for as long as I can remember knowing you."

"Wowwowwowwow. Back up, you never gave me the time of day! You pushed me away, hit me, avoided being anywhere near me and downright ignored me when you couldn't!"

"Well of course I did Hiccup!" Astrid said exasperatedly. "I was the most promising Viking child of our generation. All I heard about you were bad things. When I was little, training with my dad and I messed up he'd say 'Do it again Astrid, girl. And do it _right_ this time. No fooling around like you're a weakling. Do you want people to say you're as bad as that Hiccup?'" Hiccup flinched. She felt it and stopped, it probably still hurt for him. He'd only broken away from that image recently.

"I looked at you and saw exactly what they saw." She continued, hurriedly trying to get to the important part. "Useless, weak, no talent, attention span of a sparrow, odd-"

"Thank you! I get it!" Hiccup exclaimed, his voice flat.

"The point is my head kept telling me to stay away, to ignore you, you were supposed to be _insignificant._" Astrid stated, stressing the last word.

"Yeah, ok I get it, then I got a Night Fury, showed off some new tricks, defeated a big bad dragon and now I'm cool." Hiccup said, his tone… frustrated, annoyed, defeated almost. Astrid leaned back and punched him in the shoulder blade, hard enough to bruise. His strangled cry brought a slight note of satisfaction to her, if he was going to be an idiot then she'd treat him like one.

"Shut up and listen for once. Have you heard nothing I've said? I'm not going to do this again Hiccup so you better pay attention." She said harshly. "You were _**never**_ insignificant to me." Her tone started to soften as she continued to speak. "Everyone else dismissed you, ignored you , treated you like a disgrace to the village; including me." She added when she saw him begin to tense up.

"The thing is I could never see you with their eyes. I treated you the same way they did, but I couldn't _think_ of you like that. I saw you and wanted to talk to you, to get to know you, to understand what in Odin's name, you were thinking or doing." Astrid leaned on Hiccup a bit more. Toothless, somehow understanding what she needed to say climbed up. Taking them above the clouds were the last of the sun had left and left nothing but clear black night. The stars shinning so brightly they seemed to be other small sun's that shone from very far away.

"That's why I ignored you and treated you like I did. I was the best, and yet I couldn't understand why I felt such a big pull to be around you. It was confusing, and_ frustrating_ and I hated you for making me feel weak when I was the strong one. Who were _**you**_, Hiccup Haddock to make _me_ feel like that?"

Astrid felt Hiccup gulp, his body seemed almost to tremble for a few moments during her speech. Wishing to get this done, feeling incredibly uncomfortable, Astrid tried to finish quickly. "And then you befriended a Night Fury, became the first Viking Dragon Rider ever, and saved everyone. And from the minute you brought me up here that first time to when you were in the deep sleep I started to realize that I had always like you because… you were you. It's the Hiccup things you do that made me like you from the start, not the fact that you were suddenly good at Dragon training or that you saved everyone." Fact was she'd hated it when he'd been good at Dragon training. She'd thought he was turning more Viking like and it made her even angrier with him that he was… not Hiccup anymore. But she'd talked enough about her _feelings _for one time.

"I like you Hiccup, _because_ you're Hiccup." She finished, glad it was done and hoping she'd never again have to do something as horrible and embarrassing as this ever again. _You better believe you are making this up to me later Hiccup,_ she thought menacingly.

Hiccup was silent for a moment, his breathing had sped up and she could feel his heart pumping.

"You… But-… I'm.." He tried to start various times, his voice high, strained even. _Now_, she thought, _frontal attack: success. Time for the sneak attack. _

**A/N: So yeah, I know it's been forever. Sorry! I started out thinking I knew where it was going and then I couldn't figure out how to continue after Astrid got to the cove. Took me nearly a year to figure out that Toothless was going to take them on another 'Romantic Flight.' Don't ask me why, he just said he was going to do it and I went along with it. And then Astrid had to talk... which was weird. Really weird... oh well.**

**And yes I realize it's a cliffie... of sorts. ****I'm actually not done with it but I'm determined to finish this entire thing, if not tonight, then within the next few days. Funny thing is it was mean to be a one-shot, but it's growing so much that I decided to split it. This is five pages on it's own and I've still got _his_ issues to work out. **

**Truthfully I'm not very happy with this at all. I feel like I lost Astrid in it. I'm hoping the next part is better but truthfully I'm having issues with the whole idea of this story as it is. I kinda lost the feel of this story but it's been sitting in my computer for forever, so I'm going to dang well finish it. Hopefully within the next couple of hours so cross your fingers and send me some encouragement ;) **

**Please review and tell me what you thought. Virtual hugs to those who do. :) **


	2. Chapter 2

**Part 2: Sneak Attack**

Previously:

"I like you Hiccup, _because_ you're Hiccup." She finished, glad it was done. _You better believe you are making this up to me later Hiccup,_ she thought menacingly.

"You… But-… I'm.." He tried to start various times, his voice high, strained even. _Now_, she thought, _frontal attack: success. Time for the sneak attack. _

…

"And that's why I need to know what's with you." Astrid said. "Why are you looking at me like… you expect me to stab you in the back!" She made her voice demanding, and… a tad hurt. She was exaggerating, he wasn't looking at her like that, but she needed to keep him off balance. Hiccup sputtered.

"Woah, woah, woah! I don't think you're going to stab me in the back! I mean punch me, pound me into the ground, or cleave me in two with that ax of yours, sure! But _stab_ me in the back, no way!" Astrid stared at him.

Well, she was a punch first ask questions later kind of girl.

"Then what's with those looks you've been giving me?"

"I don't think you'll sta-"

"If that's not it then what is it?" She said her voice menacing. "You want to…" she searched for words but could only think of: "break up?"

"What? No! I'd never- … Wait, we're together?" Hiccup's tone took a strange tone, one that gave Astrid a tingly sensation near her stomach _and_ the urge to punch him. _Could nothing be simple?_

"Well we have _something!_ I thought that was obvious. Why do you think I kissed you in front of half the village."

"I wasn't sure! And then you I thought you only liked me because of the whole defeat the big bad dragon thing like everyone else seems to." Hiccup said hurriedly, trying desperately to appease her as if he knew she felt like punching him again. "And I was sure you'd expect all these Viking-like things from me like everybody else." _Aha!_ She thought, _this was exactly the right opening, she could feel it. _"I mean, sure I know some dragon stuff," Astrid snorted, _he has no idea, does he?_ " but I've told everybody else what I know about them and they're still coming to me like I'm the chief or something!

"And it's not just dragon stuff anymore either. They're asking me for all sorts of things now and I know I'm going to fail and it's going to be back to Hiccup the Useless before too much longer because I'm just not very Viking-like. And that sort of bothers me but really I've lived with it all my life so whatever, you know. "Hiccup shrugged, again resigned. Astrid was really starting to hate this attitude of his.

"But then I realized that there might be something between us, since you kissed me and we were sort of hanging out and I panicked cause I just knew you'd expect me to be a better Viking, and I'd have to _be_ a better Viking if I expected you to… you know… want to… keep hanging out or whatever." He was blushing and stammering as he said this and Astrid couldn't help but grin. Yes he what he was saying was stupid but making Hiccup act the way he sometimes made _her_ feel was exactly what her pride and ego wanted.

"And I've been sort of trying," that made the grin drop. _Oh. No. _She thought, angry again. "But I'm not really a Vi-"

"Finish that sentence and I'll do worse than cleave you in two with my ax." Her voice was harsh, cold, and full of rage. Hiccup gulped. "Toothless, down." She directed. "And you," she continued, poking Hiccup in the middle of his back with enough force to make him squirm. "Shut up and think about what you just said and what I told you, because you are going to listen to me and listen well this time, or Gods help me I'll…" she left the threat hanging, unsure just yet what she'd do to him but knowing it would be horrible.

Toothless landed in the cove soon afterwards, he'd already been turning back when she'd told him to land she realized. Getting down immediately she waited, as patiently as she could for Hiccup to get down. But either his new leg, or his own unwillingness to face her wrath was making him incredibly slow. Finally though, he was down, and unsure what to do he turned towards her, his face to the ground.

"Look up." She said shortly. "What I've got to say you'll hear looking me in the eyes." He did, nervously, and after taking a couple of deep breaths but he managed to look her in the eyes.

"You are a Viking." She saw the denial in his eyes before he even opened his mouth "Shut up. You are tough. You took the entire village's scorn, pity, frustration, and even your own father's disownment, _and you came out on top_. You are a Viking. You are just as stubborn as anyone else in this village. You are brave. You confronted a _Nightfury_ by _**yourself**_. And who defied everyone by trying to befriend a dragon during the final exam of dragon training? In front of the entire village and your own father the chief. There are no ifs, ands or buts about it. You are a Viking. So what if you can't fight? So what if you invent things? So what if you tend to live in your dreams. Those are the Hiccup things that helped you through everything that's happened so far. Without your ideas we'd never have the village we have now. There'd be no peace between dragons and Vikings and that's why the whole village is after you now. They're starting to realize that they need you, we all do." Slowly, his eyes widened, his head shook side to side slightly unable to believe her words. Growling she punched him.

"Ow!"

"You're being a moron Hiccup Haddock!" She yelled at him. Odin why wasn't he listening to her? _OK, calm down Astrid, battles aren't won by losing your head_. "What is going through your head to make you think you have to act more like the other guys?"

"Uhh…." Hiccup said, still rubbing his arm.

"Odin help me, Hiccup you have to help me understand. I can't be the thinker in this… agreement-relationship-thing we have."

"Huh? The thinker?"

"Yes! You're the one that figures things out. You invent, you look at what's there and figure how it works and fix it and make it better. I fight, I do my job, I take training seriously, as well as the other responsibilities given to me by the village and my elders. You can't expect me to be able to do your thing when I'm only just starting to figure out what I feel much less what you're going through without a bit of help."

"There's noth- wait, agreement-relationship-thing? Is that what we have?" his tone took that light sarcastic tone, and he smirked as he raised an eyebrow.

Astrid took one of his hands and pushed in the right spot.

"Ow ow ow! Why do you do that!"

"You're smart, you figure it out." Astrid said then let him go. "And you know what else? You're not leaving this place until you tell me what is wrong. Right Toohtless?"

Toothless snorted, nodding his head as he did so from his perch on one of the big boulders near the edge of the pond. He had been watching them intently since their landing.

"Traitor" Hiccup hissed at him. Toothless only response was to smile… with his teeth out.

"Wow… does he do that often?" Astrid asked, her eyes wide, but otherwise her face remaining neutral.

"That would be the first time, and I hope the last. There is just something very wrong about that image." Hiccup answered. He looked disturbed and somewhat scared. Toothless huffed, then retracted his teeth and smiled.

Astrid shook her head then turned and headed towards the campfire spot. She needed to get a fire going if they were going to spend the evening here. It was going to get cold really fast and she knew that Hiccup was going to make this difficult. Movement caught the corner of her eye and the soft but still there squeak of the metal leg made her turn. "Don't even try it." A sigh, Hiccup huffed, then went to sit under the boulder where Toothless had curled up.

Astrid got busy building a fire. She needed to try and think about this and figure it out. What could possibly make Hiccup act like this. She thought he'd gotten over the whole acting like a Viking after the village had started to respect him. She thought she'd been pretty clear about her own feelings. So what was making Hiccup worry so much? And why was he still giving her that look. It was… less resigned, but… it was still there. Astrid wanted to punch something, or throw her battle axe into some trees, anything to help get the frustration out.

The sun sunk lower in the sky, the cove was covered in shadows, most of the light was tinted a dark green as it filtered through the forest, and the pond took a dark murky look. The only real light came from the fire Astrid sat in front of, a pile of wood on her right, the fallen log at her back. Astrid looked at the sky, searching for nothing in particular. Then movement caught her eye. _Thought so…_ She smiled, but stayed where she was and stared resolutely at the campfire; now if Hiccup would just hurry up and talk to her.

As the last of the light died, Hiccup neared the campfire. He sat opposite Astrid, on the other side of the fire, Toothless at his back. Astrid sighed, but continued to just sit quietly. She had already tried to reach out to him, this time it was his turn. She just wished it wasn't so nerve racking.

Night fell on the cove slowly. The moon rose, light filtering softly through the cloudy sky. Stars peaked through patches of clear sky, shining brightly. A cold breeze from the ocean rustled the trees and brought the already cold temperatures plummeting. Astrid wrapped her arms around herself. Normally she wouldn't feel this cold, but she hadn't been sleeping well since she started to worry about Hiccup, and being tired always made her get cold faster. She tried not to show it though. She tried to stay relaxed and _not_ shiver. Shivering was not acceptable, and she had a nice big fire in front of her anyways, she really shouldn't feel this cold.

Hiccup stood up. She pretended she didn't notice. If he made a break for it she'd show him. Next thing she knew he was sitting beside her, closer than he had ever sat before. _Huh?_ He seemed to stare into the fire pretty intently, so she left him to it. _She could be patient, really, she could. A good warrior did not attack until the opportune moment, she could- what the…?_

Hiccup was putting an arm around her. That pretend stretch thing that all other stupid guys always tried to pull. She turned towards him. "What are you doing." She nearly growled a scowl on her face.

"Uh... you're cold." Astrid blinked. _How had he…_ "what are you talking about."

"U-um, well, y-you um… well your ears and n-nose get red when you're cold, and you tap your foot when you're trying to pretend you can't feel it. Not to mention you fidget."

Astrid blinked. There was something really weird happening in her chest. There was this weird thing that felt kinda like a bubble but where her heart was supposed to go. And it felt like it was getting bigger. And it was warm, for some reason. And she felt like blushing. Why did she feel like blushing? Instantly Astrid glared. Anger was her go-to emotion.

"What are you talking about, I'm not cold." She hissed at him shoving her elbow into his side. He winced, and rubbed it with his right hand but didn't pull back his arm. He leaned back, laying a bit more on the tree and closed his eyes, his left arm extended towards her making a nice little spot she could snuggle in- what the… snuggle? She wanted to snuggle? With Hiccup?_ Well it was Hiccup, and she liked Hiccup, but still! Snuggle? _Ok she wouldn't snuggle, Astrid didn't snuggle. But maybe she'd lay besides him and rest her head on his arm. Maybe, she wasn't sure yet. She stayed as she was pulling her legs up to wrap her arms around them. _Why did this have to be so confusing?_

"I lost my leg." He said it so softly she almost didn't hear him. As it was, she froze. There was something about his tone. The way he stated it, both like it was nothing and everything. "I was Hiccup the use-less before, but I was whole. I was me. I-" He faltered. "Gobber has been trying to talk to me about it. What it's like, what I can expect. But… For him it was just figuring out how to do the stuff he already knew he could do. He was never pitied or ignored. Not for the loss of his leg or hand." Hiccup's voice continued with the same tone, and the same volume. "He wasn't figuring out where his place was. I-" He stopped, and his face scrunched up. "I was the useless runt. And then next thing I know I'm hiding a Nightfury from the entire village; a village that thinks that I'm awesome because I finally figured out how to be a Viking, how to fight a dragon. Then I'm disowned by my own father, and unmasked in-front of everyone as a liar and a traitor for helping a dragon. I try to fix my mistake and somehow… everything is fine. Everything is perfect; except it isn't." Hiccup's voice took a scratchy tone. "I don't know what they want from me anymore." Astrid sighed and leaned back. She really couldn't help it. He sounded… lost. Like when he was just watching the ships depart with most of the village and his best friend caged to the leading ship, forcing the dragon to lead them to the nest. She didn't like it when he looked like that. It… pained her.

She rested her head on his arm, arranging herself so that she was facing him, though not really touching him other than her were her head rested on his arm. He sighed, and tensed slightly. Opening one eye slightly he looked at her and one corner of his mouth rose slightly. He closed his eye again and tried to continue.

"I… I keep waiting for it all to go wrong again. I never went so long with their entire approval, not for being _me_. Sure when I'd do something right they'd congratulate me, but it didn't last more than a day. At most. Now… it's surreal. I feel like I'm in a dream. And you." She raised her head slightly. "You never gave me the time of day. I… I like you, Astrid" His tone was so sincere she couldn't help but smile. "but I was so afraid you were just," he paused, searching for the word "hanging out with me because of what I'd done, because I defeated the big bad dragon."

"I'm not... some sort of… groupie, Hiccup." Astrid tried to say softly. She really wanted to yell at him when he was finally opening up. But what he was thinking… She really wanted to growl.

"It wasn't just that though," he said hurriedly. Turning his head to look at her he tried not to flinch when he met her eyes. "I… I was useless before I lost my leg Astrid. How bad am I going to be now? How difficult will it be for me now? And it's not fair to have you expect to be with me when … I don't know if I can be me." He frowned.

"Hiccup, you are not your leg." Astrid rolled her eyes. Trust Hiccup to come up with something weird like that. "Your leg was a part of you, something you used. But it didn't make you who you are. You're still Hiccup, you just have to learn to adapt to a new situation." Hiccup frowned more deeply, his brows coming down to his eyes, and scrunching up his nose a bit. "Honestly, yes it's hard. I've seen it, ok. Remember when the woodcutter lost his hand? He took a month to come out of his house. Or that one fisherman, the one that lost right foot? We all know that hands and feet can be lost at any time. Not just when you're fighting dragons. But Hiccup you almost died. All of us were seriously scared. Your dad was devastated. I heard some of the adult say they hadn't seen him that sad since your mother died." Astrid closed her eyes, and took a deep breath then opened them again. "We care about you Hiccup. It's not about how you defeated the big bad dragon. It's about the fact that we were afraid you weren't going to make it. We had to realize that without you things aren't the same. I had to realize that I couldn't hide behind the anger and pretend to hate you anymore. Your father had to realize that he couldn't continue to expect you to be someone you're not. And you have to realize that it was being you and doing those Hiccup things you do that brought you the respect of the village. It wasn't the fact that you acted the way the rest of the Viking boys did, it was the fact that you did the Hiccup thing."

Hiccup smiled crookedly, but something about the way he was looking at her told her he was starting to understand. He wasn't looking at her with that look anymore. In that moment, there was nothing there.

"Thank you, Astrid." Hiccup said softly. He turned to look up at the sky. "They're probably worried sick about us." Astrid shrugged.

"You were the stubborn one who wouldn't talk. But anyways, I saw Fishlegs on his Gronkle a while ago, so I'm pretty sure they know where we are."

"Mmm.. so they'll be coming for us soon."

"I'd say another ten minutes or so." Astrid yawned. _Hmmm… ten minutes._ Smiling Astrid opened her eyes a smirk forming on her lips. _Maybe he could start making it up to me. _

"A-astr- Ow!" Hiccup clutched his side lightly. "What was _that_ for?"

"That was for being an idiot and making me talk about_ feelings._" She told him, unrepentant. "And this is for being you." She kissed him lightly, so far the only kiss they'd had was the one she'd given him when he'd woken up from the deep sleep. It had been little more than a peck though. She had been wondering what it would be like to really kiss for a while now. He froze, but she was going to have none of that. She grabbed his tunic and pulled him closer trying to figure out how to deepen it. His hands landed on her back, one moved to her waist as he relaxed under her and responded. And suddenly she understood exactly what kissing was about and why the adults liked to do it. Kissing was amazing.

**A/N: SORRY! I did have a little trouble writting this, I will admit, but the real problem for the posting was the fact that I have no internet at home... and it was winter break for me so no classes = no internet... unless I went to like McDonalds or Starbucks but the laptop I can take to the hot spots doesn't have a microsoft word or anything really. Had to wait till classes started. Which was today. That was fun... But anyways hope I lived up to the expectations. I got some really really nice reviews and a whole bunch of alerts. Trust me guys I felt horrible everytime I thought I had figured out a way to upload it or that the internet was going to get paid and it never happened. Anyways, hope everyone had a great time, [holidays, and New Years] and I hope this year is great for all of you. Hope you enjoy in this. :) **

**Oh, almost forgot... the Toothless smile thing... don't ask... he made me do it. I tried not to write it but it just... had to come out, and everytime I deleted it and tried to read it through without that part it didn't work for some reason. It just _had _to come back. Don't know why cause it seems very un-Toothless like but, *shrug* **


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